Chapter Two

"So exactly what am I doing here?" Director Fury stood in front of me, arms folded and getting straight to the point.

After spending the night reading through files and returning for a short while to the Grid, I was pretty worn out. So I was less than happy to receive a call asking to show up at work early. And by early I mean four in the morning. Yeah, way to give me the next few weeks off Fury.

"I want you to keep an eye on this kid." I raised an eyebrow as he passed me a file. I was even more surprised to see a familiar face on the edge of the file.

"Why?" No wonder he looked so familiar. I've seen files of the name Parker somewhere, back when Beck and I managed to hack into the system. For the most part I'd ignored the files, mostly because at the time they weren't important. Now I almost wished I had read them when I had the chance.

"You may have heard of Richard Parker," Fury began. At that I nodded. I've heard the name before. But I wasn't about to tell him that I remembered it from the files we'd hacked into. "Richard Parker was on the verge of making an important discovery when he suddenly disappeared. No one knows what happened to him. But he did leave his son in the hands of May and Ben Parker."

"So I'm guessing that Peter is somehow connected with his disappearance?" I glanced at the file uneasily.

The only spying I've really done was back on the Grid. And that wasn't much. Tron had kept the spying thing up to Beck. And when I was finally given the opportunity, I failed miserably. Needless to say, it wasn't something I looked forward to.

"We believe he is. Which is why I want you to keep an eye on him. Make friends with him and figure out what he's up to." I simply nodded in response once again. Sure making friends was a good thing. But wouldn't that just put his life in danger?

"So that's it, nothing else?" Tilting my head to one side, I had to wonder if this was really a good idea.

Shouldn't they send in someone with more experience? Like Natasha or Clint? Than I realized that sounded a bit strange. Considering they were adults, and would likely scare Peter out of his wits if they crossed paths.

"Tomorrow you'll be joining the students of Midtown Science High School on their tour of Oscorp. It'll give you an opportunity to find out more about this new case." I flinched at the term 'new case'.

Okay, that wasn't too bad. I've passed the Oscorp building a few times. From what I've gathered it was similar to Stark Industries. Tony would just scoff at me and say they aren't nearly as advanced technology wise.

"Sounds like a plan," I replied with a shrug. "Guess I'll get started than."

Turning away, I really hoped that this wouldn't end like the 'Mandarin' experience. After everything that happened, I wasn't sure if I could handle that again. But this was why I had joined SHIELD. Well, it was partly why I joined SHIELD.

I suppose things could be a lot worse for me. I could be in Cyrus's position and locked up in a prison cell somewhere.

Cyrus is a whole other story though. He was Tron's former apprentice and had pretty much lost his mind during his training. And of course when Beck and I managed to escape to the User world, he was bent on getting his revenge. It was only thanks to teaming up with the Avengers that he was finally taken down.

Once I was outside the HQ building again, I pulled down the sleeves on my sweater. Spring may be coming around the corner, but it was still cool out. I sure hoped the cold weather ended soon. I'm getting tired of the wind and arctic air following it.

I was headed for my apartment when someone bumped into me. "Sorry!" The voice sounded slightly panicked as they apologized.

"It's fine, really." I had to hold back a laugh when I recognized that someone as the boy from the high school. It took me a few seconds to realize that this kid was Peter Parker, SHIELD's latest interest.

"Hey, you were at the high school yesterday, weren't you?" It must have taken him a few seconds to recognize me, though I wasn't surprised.

I thanked the Lord that he didn't recognize me from that news leak a few months ago. If he had he probably would've run the moment he could. Because really, having master assassins as your parents wasn't exactly the best thing in the world. Especially when most of the world knew about it.

"Yeah I was." Peter looked dumbfounded as he tried to figure out what to say next.

"Uh, I never really introduced myself back there... I'm Peter Parker." Eventually he took out his hand in greetings.

"Mira." Another awkward silence followed, until Peter ruffled the back of his curly hair.

"So what, you don't have a last name or anything?" He was trying to play it cool. I have to admit, I was thankful for that as well.

"I do, I just..." I fumbled around to try and explain myself. Last thing I wanted was to tell him the truth. Besides, I was supposed to find out more about him, right?

"Hey, it's fine," he quickly said with the slightest of grins. "So do you live around here? I don't think I've seen you since yesterday."

"I live just a few blocks from here," I explained as we started walking again. I'm not even sure how this happened. I guess he was on his way back from school, judging from the fact that he was carrying his backpack. "I just never had the chance to really explore the city," I added carefully.

Peter just nodded to that. I get the feeling he had more questions to ask, but he wasn't sure how to ask them. Thankfully it didn't take me long to reach my apartment. If Steve was home he showed no signs of it, and for once I was thankful for that.

"I guess I'll see you later, maybe?" Peter eyed me warily as I headed for my apartment.

"I guess so." I smiled back as he waved goodbye, heading for the nearest subway.

Okay, maybe this wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. Peter seemed nice enough as far as people went. So I was supposed to make friends with someone who was already friendly enough. I guess this mission could be a lot worse.

Holding back a sigh, I headed inside to see a familiar face peering up at me. Rinzler was sitting on the sofa, looking more than just bored. I had to admit I've been slightly busier than usual. I couldn't blame Rinzler for behaving like this. Maybe it would do him some good staying on the Grid for a while.

Speaking of which, I really should find out what was going on. Lately Beck and Tron have been having some trouble since the Mandarin incident. They were clearly keeping something from me, and I was determined to find out what that something was.

I took a deep breath before switching on the Digitizer. Thanks to all the work Tony, Sam and Quorra had put into it, the device could now be used on and off the Grid. Meaning I didn't have to worry about being stuck on the Grid anymore.

Shortly after Rinzler jumped down from the sofa and into my waiting arms. He wasted no time in getting comfortable as we were taken back to the Grid. That familiar odd sensation of being digitized followed, and it took me a few seconds to catch my bearings.

Rinzler jumped out of my arms the moment we were back in Argon City. For the most part everything seemed to be in tact. So I had to wonder what exactly was going on here. Either something serious was happening, or Tron was lying to me. Which wouldn't be the first time he's done that.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting you to come so early." I jumped at the sound of a familiar voice. To my surprise I realized that it was Sam Flynn. I barely recognized him in a program's suit, but seeing him now, I realized that he looked very similar to Beck.

"I was just checking to see if everything's okay," I explained with a shrug. Part of it was true.

"So far so good, aside from the usual problems." His response made me roll my eyes.

I've been around Natasha long enough to know when someone is lying to me. Keeping a straight face, I just headed for the one place I knew I would find Beck's friends from the garage. Mara and Zed were always hanging out there when they had the chance, especially now that Sam has the place wired up from the User world. Maybe they could tell me what's going on.

Sure enough I spotted them there, talking with a few other programs I recognized from around the city. Music blared in the background as I approached. A few programs were dancing to the beat of the music, while others just caught up with one another.

Thankfully the one program I was looking for had returned shortly after from his patrol. I folded my arms as he stood up warily, realizing that I was waiting for him.

"How was the patrol?" I asked as his light cycle turned back into a baton.

"Uh, the usual. Is everything alright?" Noticing the worry in Beck's voice, I couldn't help but cringe.

Lately we'd both been keeping secrets from one another. I still hadn't told them exactly what happened with the Tesseract being in my body. I wasn't entirely sure what to say to them. Tron would likely blow a circuit or two if he found out.

"Yeah, Fury's got me working on a new case," I murmured halfheartedly. To which I explained the whole meeting Peter Parker and finding out that I was supposed to keep an eye on him. If Beck wasn't wearing his helmet I would've loved to see his face. "Seems like a good kid... just has a lot of problems with bullies."

I frowned at the memories from yesterday. Steve had told me stories of his childhood, where he was beaten up many times for being small and helpless. But he never backed down from a fight. And that was one of the many reasons he became Captain America.

"How long do you think this will take?" Beck leaned against the wall of a building once I was finished retelling what had happened.

"I have no idea," I replied. "I mean, I've only done this once, and look where that got me."

Looking back at it, I had to wonder why Fury chose me of all agents. Surely there were better choices for this case? I wasn't exactly the most patient person, and meeting new people... that wasn't one of my strong points.

"You've already met him, haven't you?" I had to laugh when I heard the accusing tone in Beck's voice. How did he find out so quickly? I suppose I would've told him sooner or later.

"Yeah. He kind of ran into me when I was heading back for my apartment." The more I thought about it, I couldn't help but wonder why Peter was there in the first place. "Hey, you never did tell me what's going on around here," I suddenly put in.

Beck stiffened as if the words had struck him. "I... uh..." Stammering. Why was he stammering? Narrowing my eyes slightly, now I knew for sure that something was up.

"Look, if the Grid is in danger, than I want to help." I bit the bottom of my lip when I said that. Having one mission alone was exhausting enough. I think I'd choose the Grid over Fury's mission any time.

"We won't need any help." Another voice joined us, this one sounding more serious than Beck's. To which I had to roll my eyes.

"Okay, what's going on?" This time I looked at Tron defiantly, hoping that would somehow force him into telling me what was going on.

"Nothing that concerns you." The words made me flinch.

Tron sounded so... cold. Not that I didn't blame him, but he couldn't at least be a bit more caring, right? Anger suddenly churned within me, and my eyes narrowed to a glare.

"You don't want my help, fine! Guess I just won't come back at all!"

Before either of them could say anything, I turned the Digitizer back on. Rinzler jumped into my arms just as it whirred to life. I was in no mood to put up with the lies. Until they straightened this issue up, I wasn't coming back.

AN: Wanted to post this early since we're heading out for most of the day. So yeah, that all just happened :P Not really gonna get into more detail over this, but things can only get better, right? So thanks to 2theSky, Briannajs-22, Panda Bear Lover 317 and Sunofaia for reviewing! You guys are awesome! :D